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A question bank for the cee 181 midterm exam, covering topics such as technology, economics, and culture. It includes real exam questions with expert-verified answers, providing a comprehensive review for students. The questions explore themes like the integration of technology and human values, environmental impact, and the role of nation-states in global affairs. This resource is designed to help students prepare effectively for their exams and gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter. The document also touches on sustainable chemistry, urbanization, and social equity, offering a broad perspective on contemporary issues.
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Questions about birthing Neanderthals are not a silly waste of time because
Correct Answer
the technology is nearly ready, but the moral and ethical implications are only starting to be discussed
Question 2
What is valid reason why someone would birth a Neanderthal?
Correct Answer
Because birthing a Neanderthal would generate instant notoreity and fame.
Question 3
The rat-brained robot is a cyborg.
Correct Answer
True
Question 4
The idea that humans are a design space and, for example, are being wired up with robotic extensions, is important to discuss because
Correct Answer
it forces us to consider what being human really means
Question 5
As discussed in this lecture, augmented cognition or "augcog" is
Correct Answer
an integration of humans and information technology (e.g., computers and networks) that enables humans to function more effectively in the increasingly technology-enabled world in which we live
Question 6
The future of humankind is shaped by evolving technology, but technology is not changing by itself. Importantly, so are:
Correct Answer
human values and culture
Question 7
The rat brain robot reminds us
Correct Answer
that the integration of biology and machine is closer than you may think and may have been here all along....
"Embedded water" is an idea that helps us assess environmental impact by estimating
Correct Answer
The amount of water used to produce commonly used and traded items
Question 16
When we consider resources like fresh water and phosphorus, it's better to consider it a "price point" issue than it is to fear that we will "run out.
Correct Answer
True
Question 17
The major branches of geoengineering include (select all that apply):
Correct Answer
Solar radiation management Carbon capture and sequestration
Question 18
Among the reasons the "climate change" debate is so fractious are:
Correct Answer
There are still significant differences of opinion about how much climate change is natural, and how much is caused by human impacts. Developed countries cannot simply tell developing countries to stop burning fossil fuels. Some oversimplify and view it as a problem to be solved instead of a condition to be managed
Question 19
Which of these are approaches to solar radiation management?
Correct Answer
high altitude reflective balloons and sulfur-seeded clouds to increase albedo
Question 20
Once technology exists that can control carbon levels in the atmosphere the true problem surfaces because now we must come to agreement on what kind of world we want.
Correct Answer
True
Question 21
Which of the following earth systems are independent of the carbon cycle?
Correct Answer
None
Managing earth systems in the Anthropocene involves far more than climate change.
Correct Answer
True
Question 23
Burning biofuels seems like a great way to exploit carbon-based fuels while approaching net zero increase in atmospheric carbon until you remember:
Correct Answer
Even if the biofuel is from a non-food source, it usually requires fairly intensive care to optimize production. Growing biomass for fuel implicates Nitrogen in fertilizer use (which comes through an energy intensive process). Phosphorus is used in fertilizers and must be mined.
Question 24
The polarization in public debate over topics like climate change helps to clarify the arguments and establish clear "sides".
Correct Answer
False
Question 25
Despite the fact that humans are responsible for mobilizing under 10% of the carbon on earth (compared to 90% of the iron!), it is vital to remember that:
Correct Answer
Almost all of the human-mobilized portion ends up in the atmosphere.
Question 26
The _______ world was responsible for the most global trading about 1000 years ago.
Correct Answer
Islamic
Question 27
The nation-state is a technology which evolved to:
Correct Answer
Become the primary source of authority in global affairs Manage the complexity of merged people groups as a unit Ensure recognition of sovereignty within artificial geo-political borders
Important trend(s) associated with technological evolution are:
Correct Answer
Continuing substitution of physical labor with information technology systems Evolution towards increasing systems connectivity, and thus increasing system scale and scope Evolution towards greater complexity
Question 35
The term technology includes:
Correct Answer
institutional frameworks Information systems Artifacts, machines, and physical products
Question 36
The logistic growth (S) curve:
Correct Answer
shows slow(ish) development of technology followed by rapid uptake and then market saturation shows the population trend of flour beetles in a bag of flour
Question 37
The Environmental Master Equation includes all of the following terms except:
Correct Answer
Percent of resource emitted into the atmosphere
Question 38
The term "Environmental impact per unit of resource use" in the Environmental Master Equation is most significantly affected by:
Correct Answer
Technology
Question 39
In the environmental master equation:Environmental impact = (population) X (resource use per unit population) X (environmental impact per unit of resource use) which of the three parameters can we reasonably control?
Correct Answer
(environmental impact per unit of resource use)
Which of these has the greatest impact on birthrates?
Correct Answer
Education level of women
Question 41
Sustainable chemistry takes into account which of the following factors?
Correct Answer
Economic Environmental Social
Question 42
Green chemistry takes into account which of the following factors:
Correct Answer
Environmental
Question 43
Urbanization is rapidly ________ worldwide, where most of the change is occurring in the ________ world.
Correct Answer
Increasing, Developing
Question 44
Mass-migration to urban centers in developing countries tends to simplify the political, social, economic, and engineering challenges.
Correct Answer
False
Question 45
In general, history has shown that as a country develops, the services sector ______ and the agriculture sector ______.
Correct Answer
Grows, Shrinks
Question 46
Robots, automation, and AI expert systems are only a concern for low-skilled labor jobs
Correct Answer
False
Which was NOT an effect of the rapid deployment of biofuel production (specifically corn-based ethanol) in the United States?
Correct Answer
Biofuel (i.e., ethanol, biodiesel) use in personal and commercial vehicles increased to levels that nearly exceeded gasoline use
Question 53
Believing the output of sophisticated global climate models is a bad idea because the models simply reflect our best understanding of complex physical phenomena, and sometimes--despite our best efforts--demonstrate interpretational bias.
Correct Answer
True
Question 54
The Kyoto treaty is fair and should be ratified by the US because it's always clear which countries are "developed" and which are "developing."
Correct Answer
False
Question 55
When issues arise in complex systems
Correct Answer
it is best to think of them as conditions to manage, instead of problems to solve
Question 56
Humans faced with increasing complexity and increasing rates of change in their world frequently respond by
Correct Answer
retreating into ideological simplicity and fundamentalisms of all kinds (including, for example, environmental and religious).
Question 57
High frequency (computerized) stock trading demonstrates complexity by:
Correct Answer
changing the way we think about corporations because buying stock no longer represents interest in owning part of a company because of its products or expected performance, but is instead about exploiting very small changes in stock value from millisecond to millisecond.
Wicked complexity is
Correct Answer
Complexity that includes human and social dimensions
Question 59
Wicked problems arise when an already complex system adds:
Correct Answer
The human/social dimension
Question 60
Wicked problems are usually well-defined policy issues that may have multiple solutions
Correct Answer
False
Question 61
Wicked problems cannot be solved
Correct Answer
instead, they must be managed.
Question 62
Models are best used
Correct Answer
To demonstrate possible outcomes of scenarios based on certain assumptions.
Question 63
Recall Brad's discussion of how "all models are wrong, but some are useful".... Why is that all models are wrong?
Correct Answer
because they are not the real system
Question 64
Who is responsible for over 50% of the trades happening each day on the New York Stock Exchange?
Correct Answer
Automated trading systems
As a human-designed construct, "Nature" has meant different things to different people at different times, hence it must be understood as a concept whose meaning and use is dependent on specific worldviews.
Correct Answer
True
Question 73
Methane hydrate is a fuel source that is abundant and has the potential to alleviate global environmental concerns (i.e., global warming, ozone depletion, water pollution).
Correct Answer
False
Question 74
"Peak Oil" is a theory which suggests:
Correct Answer
that humans will consume all the petroleum available on earth in our lifetimes
Question 75
The US SEC demands that companies publish only proven reserves (of minerals and other natural resources) to their investors because:
Correct Answer
Proven reserves are a conservative estimate of what is available given the current state of technology
Question 76
Which of the following ordered lists correctly shows the terms ordered from the smallest amount to the largest amount
Correct Answer
Proven Reserves, Reserve Base, Resources, Resource Base
Question 77
Since we are not running out of fossil fuel resources and can continue burning them for energy production for hundreds more years
Correct Answer
we must focus on the real problem which is what we are doing with the combustion waste products like carbon dioxide
Question 78
The group that published "Limits to Growth" in 1972 is known as
Correct Answer
The Club of Rome
Oxymorons like "sustainable manufacturing" point out that:
Correct Answer
As a normative concept, sustainability is subjective and means many different things
Question 80
Sustainability is a normative concept:
Correct Answer
because it involves a lot of subjective discussion about what is right and wrong, good and bad
Question 81
Cultural reactions to technology are:
Correct Answer
sometimes very different
Question 82
The "Navajo Bridge" story demonstrates that
Correct Answer
Engineering problems are not entirely technical.
Question 83
Most agree that when defining "sustainability" we are attempting to sustain
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the premise is false. there is no general agreement. every definition is based on different values.
Question 84
"2001" suggests that after hugging the monolith, a monkey with a bone is like:
Correct Answer
a man with a rifle
Question 85
The opening scene of "2001: A Space Odyssey" is:
Correct Answer
A profound example of how your sense of time has been changed by "internet time." A profound example of how technology changes everything (a bone can be a bone, or it can be a weapon).
Particularly in the US, the railroads effectively created:
Correct Answer
National-scale economic markets The rise of agricultural in what would previously have been unreachable and unproductive areas New corporate management structures
Question 94
The environmental impacts of the railroad are limited to damage done to the land on which the tracks, stations, and switching yards are built.
Correct Answer
False
Question 95
In general, we can expect technological development to remain fairly uninvasive with respect to culture, environment and economics.
Correct Answer
False
Question 96
Technology creates psychological structures, beliefs, and comfort zones
Correct Answer
into which new technologies must fit in order to ensure adoption and uptake.
Question 97
Technology system waves are also known as:
Correct Answer
Kondratiev waves
Question 98
Which of these is not an emergent Fifth Wave Technology?
Correct Answer
Digital Networks
Which of the following are examples of technology system waves?
Correct Answer
Automobiles Railroads Airplanes the credit industry
Question 100
The emerging technology "five horsemen" are:
Correct Answer
NBRIC: Nanotech, biotech, robotics, information and communication, applied cognitive science
Question 101
Government regulation is always the best way to protect people's rights and ensure technological progress
Correct Answer
False
Question 102
The Apple advertisement introducing the Macintosh computer and the Dodge Challenger advertisement are both about
Correct Answer
Freedom
Question 103
Cars and computers are
Correct Answer
technologies of freedom
Question 104
Technology is frequently thought of as artifacts and gadgets
Correct Answer
but frequently it is forgotten that government, law, and economies are also human-made technologies.
Question 105
Technological determinism is an intellectual mistake that believes that:
Correct Answer
Technology alone determines the shape of cultural, social, economic, religious, and all other human systems.
Human enhancement is an ethical issue "only in degree" because:
Correct Answer
Most people in developed countries are already enhanced by vaccines.
Question 114
What level of technological impact is frequently impossible to predict?
Correct Answer
Level 3
Question 115
RTTPA (real time technology and policy assessment)
Correct Answer
Is the most effective current option for addressing the complex interactions between the coupled human/natural/built systems the sustainable engineer deals with.
Question 116
Why does the question "what is human?" matter when discussing emerging technologies?
Correct Answer
Humans can and will be integrated with technology systems. Some will argue that integrating humans with technology systems is wrong, evil, or distasteful. Discriminatory choices will be made about who will be integrated with technology systems.
Question 117
Implanting organic mini-pumps in veins of the human body (to help people who have circulatory problems) is an example of:
Correct Answer
treating the human body as a design space
Question 118
As categories like "human" and "machine" increasingly blur
Correct Answer
moral value systems will be stretched causing cultural tension and conflict it will no longer be possible to make simplistic decisions about technologies involving human enhancement shared ethical systems will be renegotiated and evolve
Question 119
How has Information and Communication Technology (ICT) changed the nature of our intelligence?
Correct Answer
Computers easily substitute for portions of our cognitive processes (memory, spatial sense, etc)
As reported by the journal Science, we can change some human responses to ethical dilemmas with transcranial brain stimulation. How does this impact society?
Correct Answer
It calls into question whether "ethics" is really something that matters. It impacts how we feel about whether or not we have free will. It impacts the legal system since we may no longer be responsible for our behavior.
Question 121
What does an Industrial Ecology analysis lack that a Sustainable Engineering analysis might include?
Correct Answer
What does an Industrial Ecology analysis lack that a Sustainable Engineering analysis might include?
Question 122
What is industrial ecology?
Correct Answer
Multidisciplinary study of economic and industrial systems and their linkages to natural systems
Question 123
Early environmentalism viewed firms as adversaries, but industrial ecology made an important step of progress by
Correct Answer
recognizing that firms are part of the system and must be included in any analysis.
Question 124
The book and videos discuss an industrial ecology conceptual model with three types ofecosystems used as an analogy for how industrial systems could be designed. In this model,which type of ecosystem is the most desirable from an industrial ecology perspective?
Correct Answer
Type III ecosystem
Question 125
The most important step to perform when conducting an LCA (Life Cycle Analysis)
Correct Answer
Goal and scope definition
Question 126
What is the purpose of a life cycle assessment?
Correct Answer
To identify and quantify the material and energy flows involved in the lifecycle of a product or process, and to identify and quantify the resultant environmental impacts.
